US pledges to support Egypt to host Sudanese refugees

The United States is ready to provide the necessary support for Egypt, U.S top diplomat Antony Blinken said Tuesday as the North African country continues to welcome Sudanese refugees fleeing the infighting between the army and paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Blinken made the pledge during a telephone conversation with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s Foreign ministry’s spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement.

The Arab country is currently hosting thousands of refugees including more than 14,000 Sudanese citizens who have fled fighting between the army and the RSF.

“There are already millions of Sudanese in Egypt, but they are guests, not refugees,” President Fattah al-Sisi said on Monday.

Prior to the eruption of clashes in Sudan and according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Egypt was host in 2022 to 9 million refugees from 133 countries, mostly from Sudan (four million), Syria (1.5 million), Yemen (one million) and Libya (one million).